Various compositions including acids have been used to strip solder from a copper substrate. In the use of such prior available compositions, the workpiece must be exposed to the composition for a relatively long period of time to effectively strip the solder. Within this relatively long period the stripping composition can adversely affect the copper substrate. This requires that the copper substrate be further treated in order that it will be in a suitable condition to receive further plating.
In one approach to overcoming the noted disadvantages, U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,905 discloses a stripping composition comprising ammonium bifluoride and hydrogen peroxide. U.S. Pat. No. 3,926,699 discloses an improvement an improvement on the compositions of U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,905 wherein a hydrogen peroxide stabilizer and/or a soluble metal complexer is included in the base compositions.